1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera capable of slow synchro photographing in a camera usable together with a flash apparatus. The slow synchro herein implies a photographing method possible of finely photographing not only a principal subject but also a background night scene by expanding a control range of a shutter speed up to a slow speed time of second.
The present invention is directed, more particularly, to a camera capable of slow synchro in which a flash timing of a built-in or mounted flash apparatus and a shutter speed are controlled.
The present invention is directed, still more particularly, to a camera mountable with a flash apparatus possible of setting a leading curtain synchro mode and a trailing curtain synchro mode.
2. Related Background Art
NIKON F-801 is known as a conventional camera capable of photographing in any one of a shutter speed auto setting exposure mode for automatically setting a shutter speed in accordance with a luminance value of a subject and a shutter speed manual setting exposure mode for setting the shutter speed to a manually set value in the case of photographing by use of a flash apparatus.
A specific flash apparatus is mounted in this camera, and the shutter speed auto setting mode is set. In this case, a restriction of a hand deflection camera-shake limit shutter speed works. This hand deflection limit shutter speed restriction is intended to prevent a photographing failure due to a hand deflection by restricting the shutter speed from being set to a value slower than a hand deflection limit shutter speed (which is the lowest shutter speed within a shutter speed range enough not to cause a photographing failure due to the hand deflection, e.g., 1/60 sec in the case of the same camera). This speed restriction is arranged not to function in the shutter speed manual setting mode.
One of the specific flash apparatuses mounted in F-801 is NIKON speed light SB-24. This flash apparatus has a synchro mode changeover member for determining whether the slow synchro is set or not. This synchro mode changeover member is movable between a synchro mode setting position and a normal synchro mode setting position. A position of the synchro mode changeover member makes it possible to know which synchro mode to set.
Where this slow synchro mode is set in the shutter speed auto setting exposure mode, F-801 photographs finely not only the principal subject but also the background night scene thereof. It is therefore feasible to control the shutter at a speed slower than the hand deflection limit shutter speed in accordance with a subject luminance by releasing the restriction of the hand deflection limit shutter speed.
In a combination of NIKON F-801 with NIKON speed light SB-24, however, the synchro mode changeover member is movable to the normal and slow synchro mode setting positions even in the shutter speed manual setting exposure mode. Hence, there exists a possibility in which the user misunderstands that there are, as in the case of shutter speed auto setting exposure mode, the normal synchro mode to apply the hand deflection restriction when setting the shutter speed and the slow synchro mode to release the restriction even in the shutter speed manual setting exposure mode.
In this type of conventional cameras, some are capable of switchover-setting a so-called trailing curtain synchro mode for permitting the flash apparatus to emit the light just before shutter trailing curtain running and a so-called leading curtain synchro mode for permitting the flash apparatus to emit the light immediately after shutter leading curtain running.
In the conventional cameras, however, the normal synchro mode is automatically selected during a leading curtain synchro mode selection. The slow synchro mode is automatically selected during a trailing curtain synchro mode selection.
The normal synchro mode is herein defined as a synchro mode in which a shutter speed is set within a range from a synchronizing shutter speed of the flash apparatus to a hand deflection limit shutter speed. The slow synchro mode is defined as a synchro mode in which the shutter speed is set within a range from the synchronizing shutter speed of the flash apparatus to a speed slower than the hand deflection limit shutter speed. It is impossible to select a combination of the leading curtain synchro mode with the slow synchro mode.
If the leading curtain synchro mode is set in the slow synchro mode, a shutter opening time is controlled within a normal shutter control range lower limit. The principal subject is grasped by a flash immediately after a completion of leading curtain running by a release. An expression of the principal subject can be grasped well. If the principal subject is dark, the opening time is controlled under a time of second enough not to cause the hand defection. Where the camera is fixed by a tripod or the like so as not to produce the hand deflection, it is possible to take a photo which sufficiently takes in a flash light source of the flash apparatus 20 and the background light as well. Under such circumstances, there is increasingly a demand for making selectable the combination of the leading curtain synchro mode with the slow synchro mode.
On the other hand, however, if the leading curtain synchro mode/trailing curtain synchro mode and the normal synchro mode/slow synchro mode are independently selectable, a combination of the trailing curtain synchro mode with the normal synchro mode is produced.
Namely, the following is the reason why the trailing curtain synchro mode is effective. Attained is photographing with a natural atmosphere where the light appears to flow behind the principal subject by photographing the principal subject with a flash of the flash apparatus at a proper exposure when closing the trailing curtain while catching a light trace of the moving subject at a slow speed time of second.
Hence, the trailing curtain synchro mode becomes effective in the case of the slow synchro mode in which photographing is performed at the slow speed time of second. If restricted in terms of the hand deflection time of second when the normal synchro mode is set, the effect of the trailing curtain synchro mode can not be obtained.
During the slow synchro mode, however, if the trailing curtain synchro mode always comes, this may be inconvenient in some cases. For instance, when taking a photo of a person with a background of night scene, an expression of the person is captured more easily in the leading curtain synchro mode.
Furthermore, in some of the conventional flash apparatuses, the flash apparatus itself has a changeover member capable of changing over the trailing curtain synchro mode and the leading curtain synchro mode.
In the conventional devices, however, the trailing curtain synchro mode is settable only when a special flash apparatus is mounted therein. Considering a large-sized special flash apparatus or contrastingly a small-sized flash apparatus, it is better to provide a set device in the camera body.
Where the synchro mode set member is provided in the camera body, it follows that the synchro mode set members are provided in both of the flash apparatus and the camera body. A confusion may be induced when setting the synchro mode.